11 October 2020

Cochlear crimes and charcoal bliss

 

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One of the few drawings I still have from my second year in Aix-en Provence back in 1974.  I worked a lot in charcoal for some reason. As a drawing, I am not sure what to think of it but like a persistent memory which  still lives, I value it like a relic as it was an old flame whose name was Christie.

Below are drawings from a few months ago. It's curious to see what is similar but also what is different. Generally, I don't work with charcoal any more. The truth is I can't even say that I even draw with much steady discipline these days, but when I do, it has been with pen and ink. 

My work has become more graphic, for sure, over the years. Possibly, it's  from taking so many photographs in the last twenty years and doing some graphic work. But even the large paintings done in the studio these past years have developed a graphic surface. Below is an example from around 2012. And further below from 2019, done here in Australia at the beach at dusk.





They say that there are some parts of our body which are unique to each individual and which can be seen readily in a head shot. A face can become unrecognisable over time but the ear has a personal design structure which never alters of a life time. Detectives can identify someone 50 or 60 years later just from this seemingly strange detail. 

And one thing is for sure; it's that one's work can change over a lifetime but the brushwork will always reveal the painter.








Evening Prayer Brunswick Heads, 4 May, 2020, oil on canvas board, 30 X 25 cm




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